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E(\1. May, '02] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. I29 



Notes on a Eriocranid Larva. 



By W. D. Kearfott. 



Our entomological literature is altogether barren of facts in 

 regard to the larval habits or life history of any one of our 

 American species of Micropterygida, in fact the perfect insect 

 is a rara-avis and to be found in but few collections and in 

 small numbers. 



For this reason I wish to record the following preliminary 

 account of the larva of at least one species. The only excuse 

 for the publication of such incomplete data is the desire to 

 inform fellow- workers of the discovery, so that they may make 

 an effort to secure the larvae and work out the life history during 

 the coming spring and summer. 



During early June or late May last year I found in several 

 places about Montclair, N. J., the leaves of common chestnut 

 Castaiiea Americana, with very large blotch mines, the mines 

 often extended entirel}' across the end of a leaf, or on one side 

 of the mid-rib for nearl}- half the length of the leaf. B}- hold- 

 ing the leaf up to the light a broad, flattened apodous-like 

 larva could be seen eating industriously, and when disturbed 

 wriggling quite vigorously. When feeding the larva sweeps 

 circles of lo mm. or more radius, the aual end acting as a pivot, 

 and the outline of the mine is a series of these semi-circles. 

 The frass is deposited in fine curved lines. 



lyCaf-mining lepidopterous larvae are unusual so early in the 

 spring. For this reason, and also that I felt reasonablj^ sure 

 that I had a leaf-mining Coleopter, I paid rather scant attention 

 to these larvae other than to place the leaves in a jelly glass 

 with a little moss and earth at the bottom and a gauze cover 

 over the top. I noticed that within a day or two all the larvae 

 came out of the mines and had burrowed beneath the earth. 

 They were bare and not enclosed in a case made out of a small 

 part of the leaf. 



The matter was allowed to rest here for several months. In 

 October, when field work required less attention, I had time to 

 learn something of the contents of several new accessions to 

 my library, which included Staintou's "Natural History of the 

 Tiueina" and the first two volumes of J. W. Tutts' elaborate 

 work entitled "British lyepidoptera. " On Plate 3, Vol. XIII, 

 of Stainton's work are beautifully drawn figures of three Euro- 



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